Friday, February 27, 2009

Whew!! Busy week. Keeping P Monday-Wednesday and having a baby girl with an ear infection has made it tough to upload pics this week. Here is your kiddie fix. Along with a movie of Miss Lyddie sliding--too cute!!

Ahhh--Yesterday was wonderful. We spent all afternoon after nap outside. The kids loved eating their snack outside on the steps watching the birds eat the bread crusts we threw out.

Sliding! It is so wonderful to have a playset in the back yard and not have to drive to a park. We have sand, swings, a greenhouse with lots of good dirt, a garden to dig in and bugs to find. Its great.

Lyddie can now slide solo. You put her at the top and she will scootch until she starts sliding. I am right there about 2 inches away but I have let her go. Baby steps--mommy is such a wuss :)

Elijah has a few "jobs" that he must do. Bringing in the empty recycling is one of them. He also starts the dishwasher after putting in the "pill." The latter chore is my VERY effective way to deter him from randomly turning the knob on the dishwasher. He was trying to start it just for fun but now he knows we have to put a pill in first.

Monday, February 23, 2009

He is full of them this week! I think I am going to have to have a page on the scrapbook dedicated to it. He was on the zebra bouncy thing and fell off and said:"Ouch mommy! My scrotum has a headache!"

Last night, Elijah had once again eaten a tremendous amount of food at dinner and wanted some "bazzert." I asked him what he wanted and he said "Ice cream from Grandmama." Grandmama had brought us some ice cream last week when she came for the pot roast. I went to get him a scoop and he said: "Thanks mom! I really appreciate it."I appreciate it :) He just cracks me up! Grandmama says that a lot and I guess so do I.

Friday, February 20, 2009

This morning Elijah wanted his privacy in the bathroom and it just about killed Lydia. She kept trying to crawl in there and he would scream at me to get her. He was in there about 20 minutes playing with his viewfinder and his "wagon wheels" (the little disks that go in them). Poot Lydia would stand in the playroom and yeall "Elijah!" then babble a sentance of baby talk. Then I would hear from the bathroom:

This morning started off with a sore tooth and a grouchy toddler. No preschool today and not wanting to wear pants made him grouchy. My chipped tooth (I chipped it over the weekend) turned into an emergency appointment at the dentist and a root canal and a temporary crown. Can you say $500?? UGH!

It was a day full of blessings though.

Justin got out of the shower and heard Elijah screaming. He went in there and got him calmed down (something I can't seem to do), brought him downstairs and stripped the bed where Elijah had peed all over it. He took all the dirty stuff out to the laundry room so I wouldn't have to do it.

I called the dentist at 8am and they had an opening at 9am to fix my tooth.

My mother in law came over and watched all three children on 30 minutes notice so that I could go to the dentist. She watched the children for 2 hours. When I got back, they were all happy and all had clean diapers (well, the two babies). Can you say "saint" ?

My mother called and then brought us by some chick-fil-a for lunch and helped me feed the kids.

The kids are both upstairs in their beds--not napping, but not fussing. Elijah said he didn't want to nap but he wanted "To talk to my pretend dinosaurs and talk to myself." OK bub--whatever you want to do. I keep hearing him yawn so I am hoping he will talk himself to sleep. Lyddie is up there watching her mobile and babbling. She's tired so she should be out soon.

Despite getting half my tooth drilled away and 4 shots of marcane (or whatever that numbing stuff was) I don't have a headache or a toothache. I am a little sore at the gum line but that is it. Considering how much tooth I had sawed away that is a miracle.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I tried Pilates today--what a mistake. I was already sore and hurting before the class even ended!! Who knew that you legs could actually be made to weigh 2 tons? (maybe they just seemed to weigh that much after 30 minutes of trying to hold them in the air). Whew!! Not sure if I will EVER try that again but certainly not on a day when I actually need to do stuff like take care of my kids. Try lifting a toddler having a fit with arms that look and feel like jello.

After the gym we headed to Greeville where we went to Jumpin Monkey. It was fun--I had fun and the kids had fun. The trip down was great due to EJ's excitement about the Jumpin Monkey. The trip home was tantrumy torture. I kept feeding Lydia goldfish one at a time to keep her quiet and I tried to keep my head from banging into the steering wheel from the 2 year old kicking my seat. He pulled his socks off and then screamed the whole way home about putting them back on. When we got home he screamed to watch TV(no! Naptime!!) then he turned into a snuggly little angel during the stories. He was all grins and giggles by the time I tucked him in. I hate car rides. I love the fact that we don't have to drive to Virginia anymore.

Tonight, God had big plans for me. Twice a month our church has a quilting ministry. A bunch of women get together and make quilts for missionaries to give to new moms and people in other countries. I am working ona baby quilt for China. Anyway, I missed two weeks ago because of a tantrum. After today I was debating whether or not I wanted to go or just leave Justin with the kids, take the paper and park someplace for alone time. I was getting out of the house for a break. I went to church and when I walked in two women there stopped sewing and come over to encourage me. It was wonderful--these women also had very strong willed little boys, who are now teenagers. They had so much encouragement to offer me. It was so uplifting. I needed it tonight. Recently my friends, who all have toddlers, just don't understand what I've been going through. If I hear--"Have you tried a time out? What about distraction?" --again I will scream. These women knew that with a strong willed kid like EJ that you have to be firm and NEVER EVER give in. They said all the right things and even told me to call them no matter what if I need advice. Ahhhh--I am just enjoing the fact that I am the right mother for Elijah and that he isn't an abnormal toddler even though he is different from all the kids we know. I was also encouraged by the fact that these parents have teenage boys who are doing wonderful things for God and are great kids. They are so happy now that they have strong willed children.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Whew--I never imagined how adding one more baby could add so much work to the day! P isn't on our schedule so it is tough to get a few minutes to sit and blog when she's here. Elijah can't stand it when I am on the computer and he want to "help" with everything lately which means help typing :) Couple that with my new effort to make it to the gym at least 4 days/week (which means getting up at 5 am to head there without the kids) and I am desperate for a nap most afternoons so blogging then is out too. I've also been going to bed at 8:30 or 9 pm so evening blogging is out. After kitchen clean up and one or two little picking up kinda chores I've had it for the day.

Lydia is doing great--stepping and balancing and standing but not walking yet. She'll be 11 months on Saturday. She'll copy words left and right but isn't spontaneously saying a whole lot yet. She is into everything and it just amazes me how she can make these milestones that threw Elijah for a loop. She took to a sippy cup with no problem (we had to try at least 5 or 6 cups before Elijah found one he could latch onto), she can sip through a straw (Again--tons of practice with Elijah), she is crawling up the stairs--just to name a few.

Elijah is doing fine. He is going through a tought spell right now of not wanting to go anywhere or do anything but be at home. Even outings like the park and music time are cause for kicking screaming fit. He is fine once we get there but the whole way there he screams, spits, kicks and pleads to go back home. I am hoping this one will soon pass! At least the 3 hour after nap tantrums seem to have ended. He is down to a much more normal 30 minute funk after naps and first thing in the morning most days.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

What a glorious day! The weather was perfect for a day trip to Medoc Mountain. The pace was VERY slow thanks to a curious two year old in the lead ("Look mom! A stick!" was overhead about 100 times!!) He had a blast looking for Grizzwold the bear the whole time. He also learned to identify "Blad-es" (Blazes) on the trail. He learned to identify moss, fern and creeping cedar today too. We all headed home after a picnic lunch and took a wonderful 2 hour nap.The kids are tired, we are tired--I can't wait for spring!!

Our little hiker--ready for action!

The stream--we learned how God put bubbles (oxygen) in the water for the fish to breathe--they don't need an air filter like Dorothy Glub Glub's tank has.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Monday I went through the drive thru at McDonalds because Saturday I got $50 for my birthday, I had baby P all morning and I had forgotten to eat breakfast and was starving and in some serious need of some caffeine. I paid with a $50 and got my change and went home.

I ate, threw my trash away and didn't give it another thought. Until Tuesday when I went to go and get my $40 to pay for Lydia's music class and I only had $20. Ummmm--what happened? The McDonald's person gave me wrong change. No problem I though, I know what I ordered, I was probably one of the few people that paid with a $50 at 9:15 on Monday morning to a black guy with artificial nails. So I called Tuesday night and the "Manager on Duty" sure talked a good game. She assured me the manager would call me on Wednesday and that they could correct it.

No call Wednesday--Grrrrrrr. No one answered on Thursday (I tried calling about 5 times)-Grrrrrrr. I finally got through this morning and the Manager said: "Our registers weren't off and I can't just hand out $20 because you say you didn't get the change. " And she hung up on me!!! Grrrrrr!!!

So it was out to the garbage can and I dug through the trash and found my receipt and there was a customer care line to call. I called and the lady on the phone was really nice. She was a little peeved when I told her what happened with the manager. (Secret smile on my part--I hate it when people are rude). She assured me they would be sending a letter of apology (hopefully with some coupons!!) and that we would get this straightened out.

Hopefully she wasn't just giving me lip service but I at least feel better.

That's what I get for trying to treat myself. I guess I should have come home and had an apple instead :)

About Me

Covey is a single mom to three wonderful children. She works at Greenfield school and teaches science to preschoolers through 7th grade. In her spare time she loved to decorate cakes, crochet and scrapbook.

Covey

I am a mom and a follower of Jesus. I am the primary author of this blog. I strive to love my life and be content every day but occasionally use this a forum to vent or seek advice. Most of the posts are about our life and my kids--I use the blog to help me go back and relive the funny things that happen and our struggles and trials. I am very interested in green living (cloth diapering, making my own cleaners and detergents etc.), organic gardening and cooking and in saving money. I strive to be the best mother I can. I am a science teacher at Greenfield School and loveteaching.